As a wife and mother of two sons and a daughter, my breast cancer survival has become a life-altering change for our entire family.
Two hundred and eighty days of pregnancy multiply that by three; Eight hundred and forty days of being pregnant! Then you’re welcomed by these precious little babies who will do the same three things for months....Drink, poop, and pee. As you see I didn’t say “sleep” because my children did not do that very well for the first few months. Then all of a sudden they learn to become mobile, sit, stand and fall as you run to their rescue every time.
And they’re off! The babies are moving, breathing, living, and getting into all kinds of things- on their own. And they have wants on top of all their needs. They demand T.V.- Sesame Street, Wiggles, Dora, and so on. Soon Mom and Dad are singing in the car to the tunes (even without the kids). Princesses, oh my they know us by name at Disney. Fairies....watch out they’re watching you! Hanna Mon WHO? Trains, cars, planes, trains, cars, planes, did I say that already? You can never have enough matchbox cars in your home, car, and purse. And soon enough they’re off to their first day of preschool, and as we know the rest just “flies” by...............
And the even greater challenge begins of caring for them while balancing what they want with what they’re exposed to, at home and out in the world.
Our children cannot be replaced, so why risk their developmental years by allowing them to indulge in products which contain unknown toxins listed right on their labels or within other ingredients?
Our girls love to dress up and have fun, but we don’t have to risk their health for fun and beauty. Companies will attract us through glitz and glamour, but we can have both- style and safety. Our children can be hip and healthy. Let’s make cosmetic companies aware of cancer-causing chemicals that are present in their personal care products, and promote healthier and safer products to give our girls a head start to a healthy life.
Boys have just as much to lose as girls through exposure to these unnecessary chemicals. It was inevitable that boys would get sucked into the beauty industry at some point too. According to a New York Times article, boys from tweens through their 20’s are now targeted heavily by the manufacturers of grooming products like hair products, deodorants, body sprays, colognes, etc. Young boys exposed to chemicals in such products, either prior to puberty or as fetuses, face an increased risk for health abnormalities such as undescended testicles, testicular cancer, sperm abnormalities and prostate disorders. So it is imperative that we teach our boys at a young age to read labels and avoid harmful fragrances.
Both our boys and girls can have BOTH beauty and health!
The truth is there are many chemicals in products that we use several times throughout the day that have been increasingly linked to growing health concerns such as cancer, asthma, birth defects, and learning disabilities. The interaction between the ingredients can cause carcinogenic properties when they are combined. As we expose ourselves to these chemicals daily and throughout our lives we are causing negative effects on our health.
Younger girls appear to be using more cosmetic and personal care products than adult women. The Environmental Working Group’s teenage survey participants used an average of 17 personal care products every day, containing an estimated 174 different ingredients, compared to the roughly 12 products and 168 different chemicals they previously found that adult women each used daily. A pre-teen girl's body is waiting for estrogen signals to begin puberty. When a paraben (chemical used as a preservative in cosmetics) masks itself as a synthetic estrogen, which the body in turn reads as a natural hormone, the chemical actually triggers premature physical changes.
---Goodforyougirls.com, Mrs. Grutas
Fewer than 10 percent of breast cancers occur in women with a genetic history of the disease. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that exposures to toxic chemicals in the environment are not only contributing to high breast cancer rates but also to early puberty in girls. Synthetic chemicals in cosmetics, shampoos, and personal care products we use have a huge impact on our body. Even a tiny amount has a huge impact. Our bodies interpret a given amount of synthetic chemical as a roughly equivalent amount of a similar, naturally occurring hormone.
The Breast Cancer Fund is especially concerned about synthetic chemicals that act like estrogen, which may be adding to lifetime exposure and contributing to an increased risk of breast cancer. Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that we come into contact with regularly are also playing an accelerated part in early puberty. These dangerous chemicals are in cosmetics and beauty products that we use on our skin.
Girls today get their periods a few months earlier than girls did 40 years ago, but they get their breasts one to two years earlier. The childhoods of U.S. girls have been significantly shortened. Early puberty is a known risk factor for breast cancer and other mental and physical health problems. “Puberty is a time of rapid cell development. Tissues are more sensitive to external toxicants, including those that can impair fertility and increase the risk of breast cancer,” --- Jeanne Rizzo, R.N., executive director of the Breast Cancer Fund, a San Francisco-based environmental health organization. “That’s why we’re concerned about hazardous ingredients in cosmetics products.” The younger the girls get their first period, the greater the risk for breast cancer later in life. Girl’s first menstruation before age 12 raises their breast cancer risk by 50 percent compared to menstruation at 16.
Early puberty is associated with an increased exposure to estrogen, as well as expanding the window of vulnerability for breast cancer development between first menstruation and first pregnancy.
It's especially important that girls receive this information at ages eight to 18. "That's when they are using food, water, beverages and the air they breathe as building blocks for breast tissue. They are laying down the foundation for future breast health."
----Dr. Weiss, director of breast radiation oncology at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pa., and founder of Breastcancer.org, a nonprofit educational organization
The Beauty Industry is the least regulated under the FDA. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, mandated by Congress, is eight years behind schedule and not one chemical has been screened to date.
The creators of these dangerous products should have the courage to tell the world the truth about their products. Labeling dangerous products full of toxic chemicals, as "healthy" or "natural" is unfair and misleading. If these companies are the ones deciding to use unsafe ingredients, they should have to stand up for their actions and face the consequences. Women should not have to go through breast cancer, reproductive problems, or infertility as a punishment for attempting to take pride in their appearance. We demand to know the truth behind these products. If companies cannot put the truth about their products in their ads, then they should change their ways. They should not hide toxic ingredients behind words like "other ingredients" on their labels. How can companies go to such an extent to falsely portray a toxic product as "healthy" and "guaranteed to improve," when really they are damaging all of us, inside and out? As readers, we are being punished for believing these ads. In a lip-gloss ad, it says, "Be whatever you decide. It's beautiful." How is it logically possible to be whatever we decide when our health is being put in jeopardy by using the product? These ads tell us half of the effects of the products. Is striving for glossy lips and painted nails worth a lifetime of health problems?
----Safe Cosmetics Campaign: A teen-led coalition and program of the Marin Cancer Project
Stacy Malkan, co-founder of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, states, “It’s appalling that breast cancer victims are supposed to be passively waiting for a cure when there’s very little discussion about what’s causing all this, and undoubtedly environmental pollutants are part of the problem. All these pink flag waving companies—Estee Lauder, Revlon and Avon---have a responsibility to do what they can to be part of the solution instead of continuing to make excuses to be part of the cause and to ask, ‘What ‘s our contribution to the toxic load?’”
MomtoMomHealth.com was born out of the same sense of angst you may be feeling right now. As a breast cancer survivor, I know first-hand how overwhelming it can be to begin to understand the sources of harmful chemicals and use this information to begin to make better choices.
My goal is to make this web site simple, allowing you to understand product labeling and offering healthy alternative products that I have researched and used myself. My hope is that this web site will educate and empower you to live healthy, safe and long lives.
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